“At first, I looked around and couldn’t find my dream car. That’s why I decided to build it myself.” This vehicle that Ferry Porsche is talking about here is the Porsche Roadster 356 No.1. We are in Gmünd, Austria, on June 8, 1948. It was precisely on this date that the first automobile bearing the Porsche name was built and received its general operating permit, long before the 911 became an essential reference. After the launch of the Porsche Vision 357 in homage to 75 years of the iconic 356 Roadster, the Porsche Design studio – founded in 1972 by Ferdinand Alexander Porsche or “Butzi” for friends – is releasing a new version of its Chronograph 1.
Titanium and a high-precision caliber
This wristwatch was the first product offered by the Stuttgart studio when it was created. This piece was fashioned in steel and completely dressed in black if you hide the white numbers (as well as the hour-minute hands) and the red seconds hand. A rare fact in the watch industry of the 1970s which saw in this model a kind of UFO. However, the color chosen by the founder of Porsche Design was not selected by chance. For him, it was about “creating a watch that could fit perfectly into the car. Black, like the speedometer and the tachometer of the 911 for example, to avoid any glare”.
The design of the new Porsche Chronograph 1 – 75 Years Edition remains true to an overall dark ambience. The reference, produced in the Solothurn watchmaking factory, has an updated 40 mm case adorned with micro-blasted titanium instead of the original stainless steel used in 1972. The matt black anti-reflective dial is inspired by for its part, the dashboard of the Porsche 911. It incorporates a tachymeter, a double day and date window at 3 o’clock, as well as three sub-dials including the chronograph second hand at 9 o’clock, a first 30-minute counter at 12 o’clock and a second calibrated over 12 hours at 6 o’clock.
Regarding its engine, Porsche Design opted for the COSC-certified Werk 01.140 caliber unlike the revolutionary Valjoux 7750 of the time. This chronograph movement offers a 48-hour power reserve and echoes Porsche’s 75th anniversary with a rotor visible through the sapphire crystal back that takes the shape of the famous Fuchs alloy wheels of the 911. Limited to 475 pieces, the watch comes with an interchangeable textile/leather strap specially designed for this model, in reference to the colors of the logo celebrating the brand’s 75th anniversary.
